Dive Brief:
- Employers are often stunned to learn the extent to which wellness programs have become regulated, according to an article from McNees, Wallace and Nurick, an employment law firm.
- Basic wellness programs need to comply with at least four federal laws: the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act ("GINA"), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA") and the Affordable Care Act ("ACA").
- Several key compliance questions regarding the operation of wellness programs remain unanswered, and two of these laws arguably contradict each other when it comes to wellness programs, writes Eric Athey, co-chair of the firm's Labor and Employment Group.
Dive Insight:
Key regulations issued by the EEOC governing the application of the ADA to employer wellness programs remain in only "proposed" form. Also, several important issues involving wellness plan designs are currently being battled out in federal courts. Athey outlines several of the complications in his article, mainly in the area of rewards and incentives.
In other words, Athey writes, wellness program law is still developing, and employers considering wellness programs must understand the areas in which some uncertainty remains. Each of the laws affecting these programs raises a number of considerations, he writes. And as seemingly benign as workplace wellness initiatives may seem on the surface, employers considering a wellness program for the first time should consult counsel first, especially with the muddled legal situation that exists.
